Honest Connectivity
by Lariren-Shadow
Summary: Korra visits the Fire Nation on official business only to run into an old friend. Makorra.


**A/N** : Written for the Makorra Summer Project over on tumblr. Go check download the ebook and check it out!

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own

* * *

Korra kicked the thin sheet off before rolling over. Summers in Republic City could be warm, sometimes sticky, but there was always a fog that rolled in the afternoon that cooled the city down. The Fire Nation, however, had no such phenomenon. It was her first day in the Fire Nation Capitol and she already knew it was a little too hot for her tastes. However being the Avatar meant going to all nations and she wasn't going to pass up a chance to meet with the Fire Lord (plus her dad asked her to mention possibly more trade with the Southern Water Tribe while she was there). The sun shone through the thin curtains and Korra groaned knowing she should get up.

 _I have to get new clothes_ she thought as she shoved her feet into her boats. She could already tell they'd be uncomfortable in the heat. It hadn't been that bad when she arrived last night with General Iroh but she was quickly learning the Fire Nation meant heat.

She walked out into the hallway and asked the first person she saw for directions to the dining room. After taking at least two wrong turns she found her way there. "Good morning Fire Lord-" Korra began before noting all the occupants.

"Good morning to you too, Korra," Izumi said. "I don't believe you've met my daughter, Ta Min, and from what my father told me you know Mako-"

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

Mako put down his spoon and looked at her. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I asked you first!"

"Trying to find my mother's family. Your turn."

"A volcano keeps erupting on one of the northern islands. There are reports of spirits helping with the eruption so Izumi asked me to come take a look at it. Now," Korra pointed at him, "how exactly are you going to find your mother's family?"

"Beifong put me on Ta Min's security team when she visited Republic City. Mostly because I've met Iroh and we were talking about my mother's family. From what I told her she thinks she can help me look through records to see if I have any living family left here and where to find them."

"That's, uh, good. You could have told me you were coming here."

Mako rolled his eyes. "Like you told me you were going to the Fire Nation."

"I sent you a letter! You would get it if you were in Republic City," she explained.

"Right like when you sent me a letter telling me you were touring the Earth Kingdom, that you sent after you'd been gone for three months."

"That was different!"

"Really? How-"

"How about you two continue this conversation after breakfast?" Izumi suggested, looking between the two of them.

"Maybe even later, Mako promised to show me his modern firebending moves," Ta Min added. Korra felt slightly hurt that Mako had never really offered to teach her. Sure she watched his movements and learned but there was something different about offering. Even when they were dating he hadn't suggested she learn his firebending moves and she'd expressed her desire to learn lightningbending.

"Korra and I can talk later," Mako said for the both of them.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Korra added.

"Excellent. Now Korra we can get a head start on looking over the reports I've been receiving." Izumi's tone indicated that was the final discussion they were going to have on the topic. Korra felt like she was listening to Tenzin when she'd first started living on Air Temple Island. Even though it was almost ten years ago now, she could still remember that tone.

* * *

"Why do people think they can control spirits?" Korra muttered as she read the fifth report Izumi had given her. She'd spent the first day going over reports on the eruption itself with Izumi. Luckily the lava flowed down the same path it had taken previously, thus people had moved out of the area years ago. Sure a herd of cow-sheep had perished but that was the least of Korra's worries.

What she worried about was the fact that after the volcano erupted someone in Shu Jing remembered an old story their great aunt told them about how people used to throw cow-sheep into the volcano to appease spirits. It tradition had stopped before Sozin's comet came around the first time and reviving it somehow seemed like a good idea (never mind that the lava hadn't damaged Shu Jing in the slightest). The spirits, however, were not happy with this new development. Quite the opposite in fact. The spirits were angry people were traipsing around in what they considered their territory (never mind that eight years ago it the spirits territory either). Spirit possessions were becoming an issue as was damaged property.

"It's an issue my father thought we'd have right after Harmonic Convergence," Izumi explained as she handed Korra more reports a few days prior. "He thought that since the Fire Nation had lost it's connection with the spiritual world for so long that we'd be the first to suffer its wrath. He was always a little pessimistic about things like that," Izumi said with a wink. "So he gathered every scroll he could and researched spirits. Turns out nothing happened except on fishing village claimed to see the Painted Lady spirit. All Father did was chuckle at that and write to Auntie Katara. Anyway all the scrolls he gathered are in the library and you're welcome to them."

Korra had dutifully gone to the library to see if the scrolls had anything to offer. She'd spent a few years researching spirits herself, however the problem was that most stories of spirits were just that: stories with little merit in reality. The library, however, was also Mako and Ta Min's favorite place to research. Every time Korra would venture in she'd see them sitting at a table, heads together quietly discussing something. Korra told herself she wasn't bothered by the princess being so close to Mako but, around the fifth time she found her gaze wandering to them she had to admit that she was beginning to feel the same way she'd initially felt at the idea of Mako having a girlfriend back at the beginning of their relationship.

So Korra had gathered up all the scrolls she could carry and began reading them in her room, where she stayed reading through as many scrolls as she could for the past two days. She had a clear understanding of why the spirits were angry, she just couldn't do anything from here. She stretched and looked over at Naga, who was currently curled up on her floor. "Want to go for a run?" Korra asked. Naga opened one eye sleepily, groaned and rolled over. "I'll take that as a no. Well if you're going to sleep some more I'm going to bend."

Korra quickly changed into just her top bindings and a pair of red knee length shorts and pulled her hair back into a short ponytail. Finding the practice area required only asking one person for directions. After a quick stretch Korra began airbending. Her stances flowed gracefully into firebending ones. She could feel the sun empowering her bending. She pushed herself until she could feel the sweat running down her back and her arms arched slightly. She finished her last kata and was surprised to hear applause.

Korra looked around and saw Ta Min standing off to the side, clad in a red tank top and pair of shorts, probably waiting to use the training grounds. "Uh, thanks," Korra bent the sweat off her face, "your highness." She added as an afterthought.

Ta Min waved her hand. "No need for honorifics," she smirked, "and somewhere Grandfather is laughing right now."

"Yeah, well, the training area is yours," Korra said awkwardly.

"You're one of the few firebenders I've seen that use traditional moves," Ta Min continued.

"That's what my firebending sifu taught me."

"It's all Iroh and I learned. Which is why I wanted to learn Mako's style, I have to have something to use against my brother when he comes back," she said with a smile.

"That...makes sense. I'll just be going." Korra started leave, hating the uneasy feeling she was getting from the fire princess.

"You should pack."

"Huh?"

Ta Min cocked her head to the side. "Mother said you and Mako were going to leave tomorrow morning if you felt like you had a firm grasp on the situation."

"I do but why is Mako coming with me?"

"His family is from Shu Jing and he wants to go with you."

Korra snorted. "I'm not so sure about that."

Ta Min rolled her eyes. "He talks about you a lot and I caught him staring at you while you were in the library."

"He's not-"

"He is. I know you two have a history but, if you want my advice, there is a high probability that if you wanted to start your relationship with Mako again he would be open to it."

Korra let the words sink in and felt a flutter of hope in her chest. "This is a really stupid question but you don't like Mako, do you?"

Ta Min smirked. "I don't like anyone."

"Oh, well, that's good then. I'd better be going." While talking with Ta Min hadn't gone too terribly, Korra still felt slightly on edge.

"It's my eyes," the princess said.

"Huh?"

"Grandfather says I have my great aunt's eyes. That's what's making you uncomfortable."

* * *

Korra stared out of the airship window as she felt them begin to descend. Naga whined next to her and Korra scratched her chin. "I know you miss Asami's big ship," Korra cooed.

"I thought Naga liked flying," she heard Mako say. She turned to see him walking up to her.

"She does," Korra confirmed. "She just wants to run around."

They stood in silence for awhile. "So," Mako finally said, "what's your plan?"

"Plan?" Korra asked.

"For dealing with the spirits. You have to have something in mind."

"That I've written down in a log book?" She teased and loved how the tops of his ears turned red.

"If you need to."

"Since you asked. I'm going to meet with the mayor once we get in. I asked for him to have a few of the people who had been possessed present so I could ask them questions. Probably tomorrow I was going to find as many spirits as I could and talk to them. You know, ask them politely not to possess people and remind them we have to live together."

Mako nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"And yours?"

"My plan for what?"

"Your mother's family," Korra said softly.

Mako looked away. "I have an address. I think I'll check it out tomorrow."

Korra placed her hand on his shoulder. "I can come with you, if you want."

"Thanks," he said softly.

Together they watched Shu Jing slowly become bigger as they prepared to land. She tried not to think about how much she appreciated that he was with her or how much she wished he could travel with her all the time. No, not really travel with her; she knew he wouldn't give up his job for her and he wouldn't pressure her to stay in one place for him. Rather she liked the idea that she could come back to him.

* * *

Korra's meeting with the mayor and a few of the people possessed had not turned out the way she'd hoped. After a few questions they'd begrudgingly admitted to having attacked a spirit or tried to argue with one. Korra tried to calmly explain this was not how one should talk to spirits only to have one of the possessed accuse her of not doing her job as Avatar. Korra yelled back it wasn't her fault that he'd tried to attack a spirit and that he'd probably gotten what he'd deserved.

After this outburst the mayor kindly asked what Korra could do and she told them she'd talk with the spirits. However, it would be the mayor's job to make sure her citizens were educated on the possibilities of possession as well as gently reminded that spirits had every right to be there as everyone else did.

She'd stormed into the hotel room she'd been given and lectured Naga for about ten minutes on how not to interact with spirits and questioned why people couldn't understand simple rules.

By the morning's light Korra felt a little more level headed. She met Mako for breakfast and he'd offered to go with her to meet the spirits.

They spent an hour ride Naga around the outside of the city to find at least five that were willing to talk to them. Currently the monkey was not paying attention, while the half mushroom, half bird looked bored, the two fluffy purpled four legged creatures kept tapping their legs (all eight of them), while the tree with arms glared at her.

"We've done nothing wrong," the tree argued.

Korra nodded in agreement. "I'm not saying any of you are to blame. What I would like you to do is be my ambassadors, of sorts. People are still learning-"

"It's been years," the mushroom shot back.

"Right. It has been years since you've been welcomed back into this world. However," she looked at all of them, "you're learning how to live with us too. Before you say anything about before closing the spirit portals I know spirits lived in their own wilds. Now people want to live in the wilds too. It's an adjustment we're all getting used to."

"I bet you haven't talked to the humans about this," sneered the monkey.

"I have and I've made a point that they should learn to. As Avatar I was the bridge between humans and spirits and now I'm the moderator. If there's anything you want the humans who live here to know, tell me and I'll make sure they work on fixing it."

The spirits looked at each other before nodding. "Stop throwing cow-pigs in the volcano," the tree said.

"Sounds fair but can I ask why?"

The tree shrugged. "It does nothing other than waste a cow-pig. Plus humans then are traipsing through our homes."

"All right, make sure that gets passed on." Korra bowed to the spirits.

As she and Mako road Naga back into town, Korra couldn't help but notice he'd begun holding her hips again. Not to mention how much she liked that. "So, City Boy, where to?" She asked.

"Shouldn't you go tell the mayor about what the spirits told you?" Mako asked.

"It can wait. We can go see your family," she offered. She felt his hands tighten on her waist.

"That can wait," he said.

"You don't want to go," she said softly.

"It's not that. I want to go but," he trailed off.

Korra gently elbowed him. "But what?"

"What if they don't want anything to do with me?" Mako asked.

"Think of it this way: they probably won't want to use you in their plan to free the spirit of chaos and throw the world into ten thousand years of darkness. But if they do you'll have me there to stop that."

Mako laughed. "You have a point."

Mako lead her to the address he'd memorized. It was a modest house on the outskirts of town. "It's different that where Dad grew up," Mako explained as he held his hand out for Korra to dismount.

"That was an apartment in the Lower Ring, right?"

Mako smiled. "You remembered."

"Of course I did." Naga went over to sniff the small garden to the side of the house.

Together they walked to the door. Korra waited for Mako to knock. He raised his right hand to knock while he gripped hers with his scarred left one.

A young woman answered the door. She looked between the two of them and asked "can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Mayu," Mako said. Korra half wished she'd asked what relation of his they were seeing but it was too late now.

"Why are you looking for my aunt?" The woman asked.

"She's my aunt too," Mako replied.

The woman's eyes went wide. "Aunt Mayu there's someone here to see you," the woman called. "Come in, I'll make you some tea."

"I'm Mako, by the way," he said as they entered the house.

The woman looked him up and down. "I've seen your face on a few magazines."

Korra felt Mako grip her hand tighter as they walked into the small kitchen.

"Kiku make sure you use the nice tea," came a soft voice. Korra turned and looked at the woman entering the kitchen. There was a streak of grey at her left temple but other than that her hair was jet black. She had honey colored eyes and, to Korra's amusement, Mako's eyebrows. Her face was a little too thin but her smile made up for it. "I'm not sure why the Avatar is here but I'm sure she has a good reason."

Korra felt her face heat up. "I'm actually here with my...friend Mako," she said.

Korra could see tears in Mayu's eyes. "You're Naoki's son." He nodded. "We saw your brother in those Nuktuk movers."

"I'll tell Bolin you saw them. About my mom-"

Mayu took his hand in hers. "We know," she said softly. "Your Uncle Bao got a letter about a month after your parents death."

"Did you try to find us?" Mako asked.

Mayu shook her head. "We have enough to live comfortably," she said as her thumb stroked the back of his hand. "But we didn't have enough to go all the way to Republic City. And we had Kiku and her brother to look out for."

"Right," Mako said. "Is he here?"

"No, joined the United Forces because Prince Iroh did. After his father, your Uncle Bao, died he felt like he should do something with his life." Korra took the cup of tea Kiku offered with a small "thank you." She watched Mako gently remove his hand from Mayu's grasp to take his cup as well.

"We've seen you on the cover of magazines, you know," Mayu said as she sipped her tea.

"Triad stuff," Mako said. "I didn't think they'd get all the way out here."

"Those were how your mother first fell in love with the idea of going to Republic City. She wanted to go to the university there. She worked at a flower shop in town until she had enough money to go and find a place to live."

"She never mentioned that," Mako said.

Mayu smiled sadly. "I expect you weren't old enough to hear those stories yet. Did she tell you anything about the Fire Nation?"

Korra watched the steam curl above Mako's cup. "She told me about her garden," he said finally. "About how sometimes it would get so hot in the summer she'd sneak down to the river to sleep. She said she missed all the spices but had a little jar where any spare change went that she called her spice jar. She'd empty it to buy chili powder or tamarind for special occasions."

"She loved cooking," Mayu replied.

"Those noodles you like," Mako said making Korra jump slightly, "she taught me to make those."

"You've made noodles for Avatar Korra?" Mayu asked.

"Just Korra," she replied, "and while we were dating. I'm surprised that didn't make it out here."

"It did," Kiku said, "but that was around the time my father died."

"I'm sorry," Korra said.

Korra sat back and listened to Mako and his family talk for awhile. They discussed Mako and Bolin's lives. Mako spoke proudly of what Bolin was doing and how he'd become more responsible over the years. He told them they'd love Opal and that he thought she was good for Bolin. Korra noticed he barely spoke about his life, only touching on his job and the few cases he could talk about.

By the time they left there were promises of phone calls and maybe, if there was time, Mako could come over and make those noodles before he left. They rode back in silence, Korra waited for Mako to say the first words.

He dismounted first and, again, held his hand out to her. "Thank you for sharing that with me," Korra said.

Mako smiled. "I wouldn't have wanted anyone else there, except maybe Bolin."

"Are you sure?" She asked, hating the jealous feeling boiling up inside her.

"Of course."

Korra wrapped him in a hug. "I've missed you," she said.

"You've always known where to find me," he told her.

"Except when you go to the Fire Nation."

He held her tighter. "I left a letter with Tenzin," he said. "I wasn't going to go anywhere without letting you know."

"I know." And she did. She'd known that since that one night about three years ago when she'd drunkenly poured her heart out to him about how her relationship with Asami deteriorated because they grew apart. "I can't lose you too." He kissed the top of her head. Korra felt that flutter of hope again. "Maybe we can get dinner?" She asked.

He stepped back a little, breaking the moment. "Uh, sure?"

Korra could kick herself. "As a date," she clarified.

Mako looked her in the eyes. "Are you sure?" He asked.

She nodded. "I want to try us again."

He smiled. "I told you I'd follow you anywhere."

"But I don't want you to give up your job for me," she said. "I don't want my traveling a reason we break up."

"Then we'll try with you traveling. We can set up times to call each other."

"I'd like that." Before he could pull away Korra stood on her toes and kissed him. It wasn't like the first time they kissed, heat of the moment and half angry nor did it cause her to see fireworks behind her eyes.

Instead Korra felt the fluttering of hope in her stomach and felt a sense of belonging. Which, as he leaned in as she pulled away to prolong their kiss, was exactly what Korra wanted and felt better than anything else.

* * *

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